Rasberry Crazy Ant, Paratrechina sp. nr. pubens.
Rover Ant Characteristics:
Crazy Ant
Worker ants have long legs and antennae, although not as long as the crazy ant
Workers all one size about 1/8″
Have 12-segmented antennae without a club
Coloration is may vary from a light to dark reddish-brown
They do not possess a stinger
They have small circle of hairs (acidopore) present at tip of the abdomen
A new exotic invasive pest ant species was found around Houston (Harris County), Texas in 2002, and has begun to spread with human assistance. The ant has yet to be identified to species and is commonly referred to as the Rasberry crazy ant, Paratrechina sp. nr. pubens. Currently, little is known regarding the biology of this ant. The Center for Urban and Structural Entomology at Texas A&M University is investigating food source attraction, colony growth and immature development. However, research regarding other ant species in the genus, Paratrechina, is available and may offer close approximations for this species.
Identification: How do I spot them?
Suspect Rasberry crazy ants if you see a lot of ants with the following characteristics:
Appearance of many (millions) of uniformly-sized 1/8 inch long, reddish-brown ants in the landscape; foraging occurs indoors from outdoor nests.
Ants that form loose foraging trails as well as forage randomly (non-trailing) and crawl rapidly and erratically (hence the description “crazy” ant).
Ants under board Ant colonies (where queens with brood including whitish larvae and pupae, See image on right) occur under landscape objects like rocks, timbers, piles of debris, etc. These ants do not build centralized nests, beds, or mounds, and do not emerge to the surface from nests through central openings.